Richard Leakey, Kenyan conservationist who campaigned against ivory trade, has died

FILE PHOTO: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) and chairman of the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) Richard Leakey (left) pose for the press after the president lit on fire parts of an estimated 105 tonnes of ivory and a tonne of rhino horn confiscated from smugglers and poachers at the Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya, April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola/File Photo

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Richard Leakey, a Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist who spearheaded campaigns against the ivory trade to save the dwindling African elephant population, has died, the Kenyan presidency said on Sunday. He was 77.

For years Leakey served in various roles in the government including as director of the state-run National Museums of Kenya and twice as board chairman at the Kenya Wildlife Service.